Publications
Publication details [#6011]
Assis Rosa, Alexandra. 2002. What about a section on translation in that literary history volume? On literary competence and translation, literary history and Descriptive Translation Studies. In Dimitriu, Ileana, ed. Translation, diversity and power. Special issue of Current Writing. Text and Reception in Southern Africa 14 (2): 175–191.
Publication type
Article in Special issue
Publication language
English
Abstract
Drawing on the findings of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) - its anti-prescriptivist and non-judgmental approach, as well as its foregrounding of the social function of translated texts in a given target culture - Rosa notes a factor that has been ignored in canon-creation: that Portuguese readers invest more in the purchase of translated books - e.g. the bestseller, Harry Potter - than in original Portuguese literature. Based on a complex sociological research methodology, the author suggests that most readers in non-English speaking countries develop their literary competence mainly through the reading of works in translation. It is a competence that, transferred, assists in their appreciation of canonised literary works in the mother tongue/ Portuguese. She queries the way in which translated literature in any (in her case, the Portuguese) literary system is simply taken for granted. Rather, she shows that translated works exert a powerful, albeit ‘invisible’ influence on literary canon formation.
Source : Based on abstract in journal